Session 2: How do I know God is real? Understanding Divine Revelation N atural reason refers to the human power to think or figure something out, as opposed to revelation, which is what we know because God has told us. We can know things by natural reason and by revelation. Using our reason, we are able to figure out that there must be a Creator of the world or that stealing from someone is unjust. There are some things we are not able to figure out by reason alone. We would not have known that God is a Trinity unless he had told us, unless it has been revealed. God reveals himself to us, and what he reveals of himself is called revelation. The authors of the Bible took this word from the Hebrew wedding ritual where it literally meant unveiling. It is God s deepest desire to unveil himself to us and invite us to a new and wonderful life with him, a life characterized by a deep and lasting relationship more intimate than the one shared by a newly married couple. (Chosen Student Workbook, pg 33) Question the beauty of the earth, the sea, the sky, the stars and the sun, they all answer you here we are, look, we re beautiful. Their beauty is their confession. Who made these beautiful, changeable things, if not the one who is beautiful and unchangeable? St. Augustine God, who "dwells in unapproachable light", wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his only-begotten Son. By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity. Saint Augustine in His Study by Sandro Botticelli, 1480 God communicates himself to man gradually. He prepares him to welcome by stages the supernatural Revelation that is to culminate in the person and mission of the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. [God] wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4
Can you think of a time when God revealed himself to you? Maybe it was in prayer or through another person or an event. Pretend you are talking to a nonbeliever. What proofs of God s existence can you share? The probability of life originating from an accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a print shop. Edwin Conklin, Princeton biologist and associate of Albert Einstein Proofs for the Existence of God St. Thomas Aquinas, the great scholastic theologian of the thirteenth century, devised the following five arguments (or proofs ) for the existence of God: God is the first mover. Everything starts at rest and must be set in motion by something greater than itself. The greatest of all motions, responsible for setting everything else in motion is God. God is the first efficient cause. Everything that exists came into being from something else; something cannot come out of nothing. This first cause is God. God is the only non-contingent being. Everything else in nature comes into being and ceases to exist (i.e., it is contingent ) Therefore, the existence of everything is ultimately contingent on a being that had no beginning. This is God. God is perfect goodness. Things can be judged better or worse only in relationship to an objective standard of goodness. Therefore, there can be no talk of perfection or goodness unless it exists. This is God. God is the intelligent designer. Natural bodies lack intelligence or knowledge they achieve goals by being directed by something capable of reason (like an archer directing the course of an arrow). That cosmic intelligence is God. Chosen Student Workbook, pg 238
Session 2: How do I know God is real? Understanding Divine Revelation T he Church has carefully preserved and taught God s revelation, and we can find what God has revealed of himself in the Bible and in Sacred Tradition. Jesus entrusted the handing on (tradition in Latin) of the gospel message to his apostles, whom he commissioned to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). The Church, then, is founded upon the authority Christ gave to his apostles to teach the truths he gave them to hand on. Jesus taught his apostles many things. Some of what Jesus taught was written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and comes to us in the form of the Bible. Some of what he taught them was handed on through their teaching; we refer to these teachings as Sacred Tradition. We have many traditions in the Church, just as we have traditions in our families and schools. However, Sacred Tradition refers to the handing on of the gospel and the teaching of Jesus in the Holy Spirit by the Church in her doctrine, life, and worship. (Chosen Student Workbook, pg 34) Questions to Ponder... How often do I read the Bible? What stops me from reading it more often? What is my favorite story or verse from the Bible and why do I like it? In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways: - orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit"; - in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing". This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes." "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."
In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority." Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time." "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal." Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age". "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit." "And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching." Reading the Bible: The PRIMA Process Having an effective strategy for reading the Bible can make the difference between giving up and staying on course. We call one such method the PRIMA process. Prima is the Latin word for first. In the PRIMA process, each letter of the word stands for a step in studying the Bible: Pray. Begin with a prayer that your time with the Bible will draw you closer to God. Read attentively, trying to hear the words as if for the first time. Reading the passage aloud, even if you are alone, can help with this. Imagine being part of the story you just read. What would you feel, how would you react? Do you know anything about the background of the story that can help you understand what the author is trying to get across? Meditate on what you have read. How does the message of the story fit in with the rest of the Bible s teaching? What do you think God is teaching you? Apply what you have read to your life. God may be calling you to make a change in your life. Or you may find encouragement that you need during a difficult time. Carry God s word into the rest of your day! (The Catholic Faith Handbook pg 23) As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence." If you learn everything except Christ, you learn nothing. If you learn nothing except Christ, you learn everything. St. Bonaventure
Session 2 : How do I know God is real? Understanding Divine Revelation F aith refers to the gift that allows us to believe in God and what he has told us. As the Bible tells us, Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. For example, we have faith that our friend will not let us down or betray us when we are not present. Faith is also the theological virtue that was infused in us at Baptism. Through the gift of faith, God grants us the ability to accept as true all he has revealed to us in Christ that we receive in the Church. The Faith, or the Catholic Faith, refers to the fullness of God s revelation that has been entrusted to the Church and which the Church faithfully hands on to each generation of believers in its doctrine, life, and worship. On an individual level, the gift of faith must be exercised in virtue to grow strong and sustain us in difficult times. We pray for the gift of faith so that we will be able to believe, and we exercise and strengthen our faith when we try to understand what God has revealed and to live accordingly. (Chosen Student Workbook pg 33) Challenge of the Week Read from one of the Gospels for three minutes every day. Take two minutes afterward to think about what you read. Write about it in the space below. Choose a prayer space at home for a daily conversation with God. Make sure a Bible is handy for your use along with any other images or items that help you focus your mind on God. Write about it. Practice your listening skills. Meet with a close friend or family member. For a full five minutes, listen attentively, asking questions as needed. In the space below, write about something you learned about that person and how it affected your relationship.
Reflection What are some of my favorite traditions of the Church? Why are they favorites? Have I ever felt God speak to me through the Bible? Whether at Mass or my own reading? What do I know about Jesus from the Bible? What do I know about Jesus from prayer? Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. St. Jerome Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 50-100 Dei Verbum (Vatican II document) By What Authority?, Richard R. Gaillardetz, Liturgical Press, 2003. Praying the Bible: Lectio Divina Helps us Fall in Love with the Living Word (video & article) http://www.catholic.org/homily/yearoffaith/story.php?id=52775